Consortium secures EU grant for 100-MW Refhyne II hydrogen electrolyser

The Refhyne II project to install a 100-MW electrolyser at Royal Dutch Shell’s (AMS:RDSA) Energy and Chemicals Park, Rheinland in Germany has been awarded a EUR-32.4-million (USD 37.5m) grant by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), UK hydrogen technology provider ITM Power Plc (LON:ITM) said on Friday.

ITM Power is part of the Refhyne II consortium together with Shell Deutschland GmbH, ITM Power GmbH, Linde Engineering, ITM Linde Electrolysis GmbH, Fundacion Tecnalia Research & Innovation, Element Energy and Concawe. The team is coordinated by Sintef AS.

After an engineering design phase, a final investment decision (FID) on Refhyne II is expected in late 2022. The project is planned to be delivered in 2024.

Refhyne II follows the opening in July of the 10-MW Refhyne I, Europe’s largest polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen electrolyser, at the Rheinland site near Cologne. The 10-MW electrolyser uses renewable electricity to produce 1,300 tonnes of green hydrogen a year, initially for lower-carbon fuels and eventually to decarbonise other industries.

Commenting on the project Paul Bogers, Shell vice president Hydrogen, said, “It will contribute to our efforts to build markets for hydrogen and successively reduce costs, in line with our strategy to help our partners and customers decarbonise and move towards net-zero emissions.”

ITM Power chief executive Graham Cooley said the consortium will use the experience and learning from the Refhyne I project to scale up tenfold for Refhyne II. “This is a world leading project that demonstrates the increasing commitment by governments and industry to decarbonise, at scale, using zero carbon footprint green hydrogen. We are delighted to be a part of it,” Cooley added.

(EUR 1 = USD 1.156)

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